Hells Angels

The Hells Angels (without an apostrophe), was formed in 1948 in Fontana, California (where the local chapter remains active), taking the name of the movie Hell's Angels based on the Royal Flying Corps directed by Howard Hughes.

Related Topics:
1948 - Fontana, California - Hell's Angels - Royal Flying Corps - Howard Hughes

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The Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle club epitomized the outlaw biker counterculture of the 1960s, and have been associated with gang rape, white supremacy, and murder. The FBI estimates the Hells Angels take in $1 billion a year worldwide from drug trafficking, prostitution, and money laundering. In rural areas of the United States (especially the U.S. South and Southwest), the Hells Angels have been heavily involved with the distribution of crystalline, smokeable methamphetamine (frequently referred to as 'ice' or 'crystal meth'), a recreational drug.

Related Topics:
Outlaw motorcycle club - Outlaw biker - Counterculture - 1960s - Gang rape - White supremacy - Murder - FBI - Prostitution - Money laundering - U.S. South - Southwest - Methamphetamine - Recreational drug

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The HAMC (Hells Angels Motorcycle Club) still profess to be "just" a motorcycle club, despite the fact that since 1994 biker wars in Quebec alone have resulted in more than 100 deaths (including a young bystander killed by an exploding car bomb), 84 bombings, 130 reported cases of arson, and 9 missing persons. In many countries, the Hells Angels are officially considered a criminal organization, and being a member is thus a criminal offense. The Angels claim their membership consists mostly of relatively law-abiding citizens who have often been victims of media sensationalism, and can't resist presenting themselves as a '1% Club', a phrase that got its start because the American Motorcyclist Association used to claim that 99% of motorcycle riders were law-abiding.

Related Topics:
Quebec - Criminal organization - American Motorcyclist Association

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The biker gang has 2,000 members and prospects in 189 chapters in 22 countries around the world. (See Hells Angels - UK.) Hells Angels Oakland Chapter has been particularly infamous, partly due to its connection with Ralph 'Sonny' Barger, whose autobiography, Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was a national bestseller. Sonny Barger has spent over a decade in prison, wrote biker-related fiction after his release, and settled down finally as the eponym of his own brand of beer.

Related Topics:
Hells Angels - UK - Oakland - Ralph 'Sonny' Barger - Prison - Beer

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Perhaps the most notorious event in Hells Angels history involved a 1969 Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont, California Speedway. The Angels had been hired as crowd security for a fee which was said to include $500 worth of beer. A shoving match erupted near the stage during a rendition of the song "Under My Thumb" (not, as is commonly thought, "Sympathy for the Devil"), resulting in the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter, by an Angel, Alan Passaro. Passaro was later acquitted on grounds of self-defense.

Related Topics:
1969 - Rolling Stones - Altamont, California - $ - Sympathy for the Devil - Meredith Hunter - Alan Passaro

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The Hells Angels have a hierarchical structure and committing crimes is left to new recruits. Those higher up reap the rewards, allowing leaders to operate with impunity while flaunting their image of power to attract recruits and draw them into crime. It is difficult for law enforcement to infiltrate the Angels because becoming a member requires committing crimes.

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In the sixties, during the Vietnam era, the group offered its "services" to the U.S. military in its conflicts abroad. Although they were never taken up on their offer, many who previously idealized the group as a counterculture began to see this alliance with the government as a betrayal. Six members of the "John Brown Brethren," a small, violent contingent of antiwar activists, attacked the group in San Francisco, California, killing four members.

Related Topics:
Vietnam - U.S. military - John Brown Brethren - San Francisco - California

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